Illustration By The Daily Beast/Facebook
Jazmina Saavedra, a California woman who is currently running for Congress, confronted a trans woman who was using the ladies’ restroom in a Denny’s and posted a video of the encounter on Facebook. Saavedra told the camera that she was attempting to use the women’s restroom when she realized that a trans woman occupied the stall. “So, that guy is violating my right to use the ladies’ room here, and he’s saying he’s a lady! Stupid guy,” she said, as she set up her camera and waited for her to leave the restroom. Saavedra also said that California politicians want to “endanger a woman like” her with laws that permit trans people to use restrooms that correspond to their identified gender. When the woman emerged from the restroom, Saavedra confronted her, saying, “You’re invading my privacy.” The unidentified woman responded, “Excuse me, I was using the toilet… Why are you singling me out lady? And I see [sic] you yesterday following me.” The woman left the restaurant as Saavedra called her stupid and diners looked on. “I was with my pepper spray ready and I called the manager so he helped me,” she told the camera after the woman left. “How can I be with a man inside of the ladies’ room just because he thinks he’s a lady? This is unbelievable. Only in California this happens.” On Saavedra’s “Vote for Jaz” website, she states she’s running for the state’s 44th district and wants to work to preserve “morals and faith” of “conservative families.” Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), the incumbent whom Saavedra is challenging, wrote in a statement: “I was appalled by the treatment that this woman received for simply trying to use the restroom. Everyone has the right to their own identity, and the right not to be discriminated against for who they are.”